Champions help to heal communities — Part 1
by Sharon Higa | Jan. 7, 2025
The HEI Charitable Foundation annually recognizes six outstanding employee volunteers with a $1,000 donation awarded to a nonprofit organization of their choice. The 2024 Kokua Community Service Champions are all leaders with a desire to serve and through giving back are helping bridge the gap so communities can heal and thrive. I’m pleased to introduce this year’s honorees and their selected nonprofits through a series of blogs dedicated to each individual champion.
Yoh Kawanami, director, Customer Energy Resources Operations
Fluent in Japanese and inspired by Nitobe Inazō ( “I wish to be a bridge across the Pacific”), a pre-World War II Japanese economist, educator and diplomat, Yoh Kawanami volunteers his time and leverages his unique background on activities that further U.S.-Hawaii-Japan relations while also supporting the next generation of thought leaders. At Hawaiian Electric, Yoh leads the company’s customer-sited programs which support grid reliability and the integration of renewable resources.
After the August 2023 fires on Maui, Yoh spearheaded the TOMODACHI Kibou for Maui program funded by the Japanese government, which sends high school students directly affected by the fires to Japan for a week-long journey of healing, cultural exchange and connection with peers who survived and overcame the challenges of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The students gained the essential skills for contributing to the physical, mental and spiritual rehabilitation of their communities and, by drawing upon the recovery lessons learned by their Japan peers, youth affected by the fires forged friendships, learned about leadership and found space to heal.
Helping Yoh with the program implementation was the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, Yoh’s selection to receive the HEICF donation. Located in Moiliili and founded in 1987, JCCH serves as a community and cultural heritage resource for the Japanese American experience in Hawaii.
“Without the help of the organization and leadership, I would not have been able to deliver on the program,” Yoh said. “We took 21 Lahainaluna High students to Japan in 2024 to gain kibou (hope) and show what recovery and restoration could look like. It takes a community to heal from such devastation, and JCCH is a true leader of the community.” The next group of Maui high school students will be heading to Japan in March 2025.
When informed about the Kokua Champion award donation to JCCH, the response was, “Support from Hawaiian Electric and the HEI Charitable Foundation helps JCCH to conduct the TOMODACHI Kibou for Maui program which fosters resilience through cultural exchange, workshops, and shared experiences, emphasizing core values like gaman (persistence), kibou (hope), and wā (harmony),” said Nate Gyotoku, JCCH President and Executive Director. “Participants not only gain insights into community recovery but also find emotional healing by connecting with others who have faced similar challenges. With continued support from organizations like Hawaiian Electric, JCCH looks forward to continuing this impactful initiative.”
In addition to his work with the TOMODACHI Kibou for Maui program, Yoh serves on the boards of the U.S.-Japan Council and Pacific International Center of High Technology Research; is a math team coach for his alma mater Mid-Pacific Institute; volunteers on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Industrial Advisory Board and elective class for the department of Electrical Engineering; mentors at the Jordan & Cara Odo Scholarship Foundation; and is a facilitator and board member of the Lokahi Foundation which fosters young, emerging leaders from Japan.
Sharon Higa is a senior communications consultant at Hawaiian Electric.
